Beauty Breakdown – Alexa Davalos at the Clash of the Titans premiere

There’s a new starlet in town and her name is Alexa Davalos. She is Andromeda in the new film Clash of the Titans, and this week in London she’s been lighting up the red carpet in a dress by Ralph Lauren and diamonds by Van Cleef & Arpels.

Makeup artist Kay Montano was inspired by the makeup at the recent YSL show, which was very matte skin with a bright, glossy lip, and a hint of shine on the eyes and the cheeks. Juxtaposing textures creates a look that’s beautiful, polished and fresh – perfect for the red carpet.

Glossy lids are having a moment again, and they’re one of my favourite looks. Plus they’re super easy to wear! You can either do a glossy lid on it’s own, like the lovely Alexa Davalos, or you can do a colored version over your regular powder shadow.

The plain glossy eye is best achieved by using mascara and a gel eyeliner (not pencil, as it will smudge), to enhance the shape of the eye, and then add a product with shine, like Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream or a cheaper option, like Vaseline, which also does the job. For a super high shine effect, MAC have a Gloss product in their Pro line which is also lovely.

If you fancy a colored glossy eye, simply do your powder (or cream) shadow as normal, then carefully dab on a small amount of your chosen shine product into the centre of the lid. Be gentle as it will really make the base powder products move around. Alternatively you can use a specific coloured eye gloss – Chanel had an awesome coloured Eye Gloss quartet last winter which may not still be on counter, but to the intrepid, nothing is ever really discontinued now with the wonders of Ebay (although you didn’t hear that from me!)

The only problem with glossy eyes is that they will crease, and you will need to smooth it out every couple of hours, But actually that’s the beauty of it to me – that it does get a bit sexy and destroyed, and it’s not perfect. So go grab some Vaseline (the cheapest starting product to see whether you like the look) and rock those glossy lids!